Seven Years Later
by chibiaddict
Summary: LS&B are sick of the new Halloween Town after all the holidays took over. So they decide to venture out into the real world with Zero, realizing thrills and sacrifices of their journey for fun. Slight LockxShock


**Okay, this is my first story upload! YAY! I'm new at all this stuff so yeah.**

**The Nightmare Before Christmas and all the characters are really owned by Tim Burton. So DON'T SUE ME!!**

Seven years later and without parental guidance, Lock, Shock and Barrel are twice the mischievous, little demons they were before. They are renowned all over Halloween Town for their deeds, rampaging around the city causing trouble.

Barrel, at age twelve and being the youngest of the group, excelled at annoying everyone without ever even trying. He was the least matured for he was just absolutely oblivious to his surroundings. Barrel just does whatever to make himself happy. The only difference from then until now is that instead of wearing his old skeleton costume, he got Lock to modify it into a bigger, glow-in-the-dark version.

Shock is the oldest, at age 14 and also coincidentally the only girl. She is the most mature of the three, resulting in continuing quarrels between her and the other two.

Lock is the mature boy, or at least that's what he thinks. He has a sort of "attraction" to Shock, but he is in a state of denial.

So besides the growing of height, methods of torture, and raging hormones, there's really no big change in the trio's lives. Their lust of death and massacre was still the same.

That one particular evening when Jack defeated Oogie was still prominent in their skulls, even though it had been long years past. At first, they had a blast without Boogie, feeling free to do whatever pleased them. But as the months went by in their dilapidated tree home, they gradually grew bored with their usual shenanigans.

"This really is a drag." Shock sighed as she carelessly tossed a mini axe at Barrel, barely missing his head by inches.

Barrel just nodded in agreement. He didn't even flinch because of all the times that she has thrown something at him. "We have nothing to do anymore."

Suddenly, Lock stood up as if for a rant he has been keeping to himself for years. "Ever since that whole Sandy Claws situation, Halloween Town has never been the same. It's been queer with all of the holidays ruining it for us. Now we have to eat a turkey every November? What is the point of that?"

Lock's sudden burst of dialogue left the other two in a state of awkward silence until Barrel spoke out. "But killing the turkey is always fun!"

"And roasting it." Shock added.

"No! You guys aren't listening to me!" Lock yelled impatiently, his voice reverberating around the room. As his conrads calmed and stared at him with a serious look, he continued. "I was thinking about that night when Jack rode into the sky to the real world, giving them presents and causing a lot of trouble. Who says we can't do the same now that Boogie's gone?"

Shock stared at him with an uneasy look. "It sounds like fun, but it's not even close to being Christmas yet. And how exactly are we going to get there? We have no reindeer or sleigh to fly us there. And I doubt Jack and Sally will consent this."

Lock paused for a moment, for he never completely thought this plan through the mechanics. He pondered for a moment, until an idea came into his mind.

Grinning evilly at his friends, Lock revealed his hint. "All of the reindeer are gone, but not one."

The other two thought for a few minutes, digesting Locks words and trying to solve it like a puzzle. "Oh! Oh!" Shock suddenly straightened up with an enthusiastic look on her face. "Do you mean…Zero? Jack's dog?"

"Precisely."

Shock grinned, accomplished, and climbed into a food cabinet, digging until she pulled out a bag of bones. "I knew this stuff would come in handy someday."

And so, they headed out of their lair to the graveyard. They scurried like demon mice into the twilight, giggling in excitement for the upcoming adventure. As they arrived at Zero's grave, Shock pulled out one of the bones and waved in between her fingers.

Zero floated out of his ditch and barked playfully, circling around Shock for the bag he desired.

"You can have all these treats if you play a little trick with us." The trio snickered.

Zero just barked in approval; it was as easier than thought. So then the three kids grabbed a small trash can and rope, making Zero tug them into the night and towards the nearest normal city.

After thirty minutes of dragging the kids across the sky, Zero started to descend back towards the ground. The clouds whipping past them started to fade as the ground drew nearer.

"Uh-oh. Zero, we've just started flying!" Lock spoke in anger even though the look on his face was terror.

"We're gonna crash!" Shock screamed as she covered her eyes and hugged her dear friends.

And her premonition came true. Zero didn't suffer any damage as he just floated carelessly to the ground, but the trio suffered otherwise. They clashed heads and painfully rolled off in scattered directions as their ship lay dented and unusable.

Lock slowly got up and wiped the dirt off his scratch-filled face, limping to his nearest friend. He stood staring at his best friend in a most terrifying condition as Zero barked sadly by his side. Lock cautiously shook Shock's limp body, afraid that she would never get up. He held his breath, hoping that dear life would let hers remain intact.

As every second passed without her movement, he began to lose hope. His face saddened as she gave no response, so he solemnly walked over to the next body.

Barrel lay unmoving as well, and Lock was prepared to accept another loss. Lock slumped down by his other ally and shook him like he did to Shock. He was ready for no reply, no sound, no movement, until Barrel suddenly sat up, smiling at him.

"Woo! That was so awesome, huh?" Barrel continued to stare at Lock with that toothy grin, unaware of his other cohort's fate.

Lock just stared blankly at the ground with glazed eyes, as if he wasn't really seeing. He sniffed. "No, this isn't _so awesome_, Barrel." Then he added with fury in his tone. "Shock's dead!"

"What are you talking about, Stupid?" said a voice that Lock almost didn't trust was real.

His face suddenly lit up as he whirled around to give his live friend a hug. "You're alive! Oh I thought I lost you forever!" he spoke happily as he hugged her as tight as he could.

She looked at him with an uncertain smile and hugged him back lightly. "Eh…thanks." She pushed him away to prevent awkwardness and looked around. "Now that we know that we're alright, we should probably figure out where we are and how to get back home."

The trio looked at their surroundings: dead trees with dead leaves sprinkled on the dirt. "These woods look slightly different than the forest near Halloween Town. The trees are way bigger and fresher." Barrel blurted out.

"Yeah you're right. So which direction should we go?"

They stared off in different angles, even though everything looked the same no matter where they looked. The silence was more ominous than the woods they were used to, maybe because this place was unfamiliar. They were like earthworms shivering on the surface after a thunderstorm, helpless and desperate for a sign of help.

"Well, let's just leave the stuff here and walk straight ahead, see if there's anyone that could lend us hospitality or food," Lock suggested after thinking for a moment.

"I guess that's the best thing we can do." Shock sighed and started sauntering forward.

The other two followed her as Zero floated along gleefully, chewing on the last bit of bone that was left from the bag. They walked through the same, identical trees, over and over again, it seemed. Hours through the silence they moved, until their legs were too sore and gave out beneath them. They sighed and sat on the crunchy, dead ground, catching their breath and eating some leftovers they stuffed in their pockets hastily before the trip. The sky was fading away as a huge black quilt started to wrap over the earth with white glitter sprinkled on it.

"We never should've done this, Lock! That was your dumbest idea ever!" Shock snapped angrily despite the moment of kindness they had.

"Well it wasn't _my_ idea to ride inside the trash can, Dumbass!" Lock screamed back, infuriated that she was so oblivious.

"Hey, guys shut up and just go to sleep. We can worry about this tomorrow," Barrel spoke irately and lay down, curling into a comfortable position as he closed his eyes.

Now Lock and Shock were mad at him for interrupting. "Oh yes! Let's sleep now, in the dark, cold night without a fire so the wolves can eat us while we dream!" Shock spoke sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Lock sighed as he stood up and scavenged for a few good twigs. "I'll make the frickin' fire."

Shock stared at Lock as he lit up the pile of sticks, petting Zero as the dog stared to fall asleep in her lap. When the fire got to the perfect size, Lock sat next to Shock. They both extended their arms to the flames, almost close enough to grasp it. They sighed at the warmth and stared at each other in the glow of the fire.

Lock smiled nervously and spoke lightly, "You know, I know...uh…We may fight a lot but I think…I think you're…cool."

Shock stared at him with a weird look on her face. "Oh…uhh…okay. Thanks."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Lock's smile took a vertical change.

Shock fumbled with her fingers. "Well…yeah."

"Ugh, forget it!" Lock fell back to lie down and turned away from her.

Shock stood still as the only noise left was the crackling fire. She sighed and lied down as well, listening for anyone to say something that would break this silence.

The next morning, Shock was rudely awakened by a sharp kick in the ribs.

"Ah what the hell?" Her eyes squinted to adjust to the light. She stared at an angry Lock glaring back at her.

"Wake up, you stupid sloth! Barrel found something."

Shock grunted and sat up; rubbing the developing bruise that Lock gave her. She followed him to where Barrel was. The short boy was leaned at 45 degrees into a bush, his head completely covered by leaves. Lock and Shock plunged their heads into that same bush, looking through it to see what Barrel was so confounded by.

**W00t first chapter finito!**

**lol I suck so bad at writing compared to most! But still, review please! **


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